27 January 2009: AP
LONDON: A British security think-tank says NATO's mission in Afghanistan is faltering.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies says Taliban insurgents pushed into new areas of Afghanistan and increased the use of suicide bombers last year.
"Presidential elections are due to take place this year amid rising violence and with a government that is unable to exert its authority in the provinces," John Chipman, the head of the institute, said Tuesday. "The integrity of the whole international mission in Afghanistan is therefore very substantially at stake."
The report said international forces fighting the insurgency made little headway last year. Chipman said NATO needs to reach out to tribal leaders and the countries neighboring Afghanistan to succeed.
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